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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27272296">A Terrible Ride</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_Nerd3/pseuds/Random_Nerd3'>Random_Nerd3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>JatP Whumptober 2020 [25]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Gen, Good Friend Julie Molina, HEAVY WHUMP, Inspired By Ian Gallagher's Bipolar Episodes In Shameless, It's a bad day, Julie Just Wants Her Brother To Be Okay, Multi, Post-Season/Series 01, Protective Julie Molina, Protective Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie - Centric, Reggie Has Bipolar Depression, Reggie is a Molina (Julie and The Phantoms), The Boys Are Human (Sort Of), Whump, hurt/little comfort</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 03:01:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,779</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27272296</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_Nerd3/pseuds/Random_Nerd3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The two of them, Julie and Reggie, resorted to sitting in a heavy silence. Julie intertwined their fingers, refusing to let them go. She might not be able to help Reggie directly, but she could at least remind him that he wasn’t alone.</p><p>or</p><p>the one where Reggie has bipolar and after the Orpheum he has his first Bad Day in twenty-five years.</p><p>inspired by the portrayal of bipolar shown in Shameless. (Cameron Monaghan absolutely kills his performance in this show.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex &amp; Luke Patterson &amp; Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina &amp; Reggie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>JatP Whumptober 2020 [25]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949821</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>284</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Terrible Ride</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi!</p><p>Instead of posting from the official whumptober list I'm posting this sooooo does this count as cheating? In all seriousness, go watch Shameless US. It's such a good show!</p><p>Title taken from the musical Lizard Boy.</p><p>~ R</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Julie frowned when she walked into the studio after school only to find the lights dark and the room empty. “Luke, Alex, Reggie, you guys in here?” Julie took a hesitant step forward, wondering where her boys went off to. “Luke?” Julie asked, slowly approaching the couch, noticing the human-shape lump covered by a stack of blankets. The lump of dusty old quilts shifted, piling up more towards the center of the couch. Julie assumed whoever was underneath it all had curled up into a ball. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘G way,” someone mumbled back. Whoever it was, he sounded miserable. It was probably one of her boys, but Julie couldn’t understand that if one of her boys was feeling so low… why the others didn’t stay with him. Julie reached a hesitant hand out and pulled back the blankets covering what she hoped was the head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Reggie?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” She asked, cursing herself for sounding so surprised. “It’s dark in here, do you want to turn on the light?” Julie crossed the room and flicked on the light, in response getting a violent hiss from Reggie, who buried his head in his blankets in an attempt to get away from the light source. “Okay, no light.” Julie said to herself shutting the lamps off again. She carefully walked back to the couch, kneeling by Reggie’s head. Reggie who looked… not Reggie. His eyes were dark, the light that usually shined behind them was gone. He looked hopeless, like even just turning his head to face her was a struggle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi,” Reggie said, staring at her blankly. His voice was cracked and hoarse, a weak smile curving at the corner of his lips. The sight was unnerving, but Julie shook off her nerves. Her brother was hurting, she had to help him… even if she didn’t exactly know </span>
  <em>
    <span>how</span>
  </em>
  <span> yet. Julie reached out and brushed his hair out of his face. Reggie was one of her boys, her brother in everything but name (which according to her dad was going to change very soon). It pained her to think of him suffering, especially since it didn’t seem to be anything ghost related. Which in turn meant she couldn’t punch whatever was making her brother so sad.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where are Luke and Alex?” Julie asked, softly combing through his hair. The physical contact seemed to help, though not much. Reggie’s weak smile dropped and that goddamn frown was back. Julie wanted to shake Reggie and wake him up, to bring </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span> Reggie back, not this… shell version of him, this </span>
  <em>
    <span>hopeless</span>
  </em>
  <span> version of him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gone,” Reggie said quietly. He flipped over and turned away from her, burying his face into the back of the couch. Alex and Luke wouldn’t have left Reggie alone if they knew he was like this, if they knew whatever </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> was had gotten this bad. Refusing to let Reggie win, Julie threw herself over him, resting her chin on his shoulder while wrapping one of her arms around him. The half-hug was awkward but right now it was the best she could do.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They’re not gone forever,” Julie said, trying to comfort Reggie. Nothing she did seemed to work, ten minutes of prodding later Reggie </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span> looked like he was dead… again... Getting a new idea Julie grinned and reached her arm out, wrapping her hands around his nearby banjo. It was lying discarded on the floor near the couch, like Reggie had just dropped it there. Leaning in to whisper in his ear she said, “I have an idea! What if you and I worked on one of your country songs huh? That always cheers you up.” In response Reggie just mumbled something she couldn’t make out, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to budge. Julie sighed and returned the banjo to it’s place of honor on the wall. She was starting to lose hope herself, but this was </span>
  <em>
    <span>Reggie</span>
  </em>
  <span>. If Julie gave up on him she’d never be able to forgive herself. The two of them, Julie and Reggie, resorted to sitting in a heavy silence. Julie intertwined their fingers, refusing to let them go. She might not be able to help Reggie directly, but she could at least remind him that he wasn’t alone. Julie sat on the floor of the studio, back against the bottom of the couch, scribbling down choppily worded lyrics as she waited for Alex and Luke to show up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shit</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Luke cursed the second he landed in the studio. Julie looked up from her songbook to see both him and Alex looking just as, if not more, worried as she felt. Reggie didn’t even turn to look at them, instead he just wrapped his arms tightly around his chest. “Julie, give us a second alright?” Luke asked, lightly pushing her hand aside, taking her place. Julie wanted to say no, to say she wanted to be there for Reggie. To say she wanted to make sure he was okay. Something told Julie that the boys had dealt with this before though, and knew what to do.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Julie managed to say back.  She placed a soft kiss at the back of Reggie’s head. “I’m not going far okay?” She said, promising she’d stay nearby. Reggie didn’t say anything in response, staring blankly at the back of the couch instead. Julie backed away, moving to the other side of the studio. It was like she was watching a well rehearsed play. The way Luke’s soft coaxing whispers cut through the air, the way Alex knew exactly which flannel to get from the loft. They’ve definitely had to help Reggie through this before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>You want to show me one of your songs?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Luke’s hushed whisper washed over the room. Reggie grumbled, curling around his red flannel. “Hey,” Luke said after a quick glance to Julie. “I bet we can get a Star Wars marathon started! That sounds like fun, right?” Luke asked, trying to get Reggie to move. He didn’t get any response at all, just that same heavy silence from before. Julie shifted, twisting her bracelets around her wrist anxiously as she watched the scene unfold.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What about going for a walk on the beach?” Alex asked, eyes filled with worry and concern. “That always seems to make you happy, busking on the boardwalk.” Julie’s heart clenched when Reggie just stayed silent. When it was evident Reggie wasn’t budging Alex shrugged off his sweatshirt and shoved it between Reggie’s arms. Luke looked helpless as he sat on the couch, leaning over Reggie trying to start a conversation with him. The guitarist had settled for pressing soft kisses into the back of Reggie’s head. Alex wiped a tear onto the back of his hand, then poofed next to Julie. “I’ll meet you outside,” Alex said before poofing away. Julie took one last look of longing to Luke, watching him try to coax Reggie out of his Thing, before slowly backing out of the studio.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Explain,” Julie said the second she closed the studio door behind her. The rush of questions overflowed out of her before Alex got a chance to speak up. “What’s going on with Reggie? Is it Caleb? Why does it look like it’s happened before? Is it something that he did when he was alive? He’s always so </span>
  <em>
    <span>happy</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I never thought I’d see him…” Julie trailed off, unsure of how to finish the sentence. Alex smiled at her sadly, sitting on a bench her dad put near the studio.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You never thought you’d see him depressed?” Alex asked, finishing her thought for her. Julie nodded and couldn’t help but feel guilty. Sensing her guilt Alex reached out and grabbed her hand, wrapping her up in a hug. “Hey, this isn’t your fault. You need to know that, okay?” Alex said, let Julie stain his white shirt with her tears. Julie lost track of time, how long she spent just standing there crying into Alex’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What… what is it?” Julie asked, voice wobbly from all the crying. Alex looked sad, lost in a memory from his past.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We don’t really know to be honest…” Alex admitted, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. They both walked back to her bed, sitting next to each other. Julie stayed silent, giving Alex time to figure out his thoughts. “It’s like these high highs followed by these long days of low lows and Reggie would just shut down for days. The first time it happened it was fucking terrifying,” Alex said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It sounds like bi-polar depression,” Julie said, suddenly remembering the research project she had to do for one of her classes. Alex’s face morphed into surprise,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s a name for it now?” He sounded so shocked, then again most of the modern bi-polar research had debunked what people used to think about the illness. Julie wasn’t exactly surprised to see the boys didn’t exactly know about it. “Reggie’s parents just treated it like he was lying. Like he was just trying to get attention. We knew better though, the band did I mean.” Alex started to wring his fingers together, a nervous tick Julie noticed he did whenever his anxiety was starting to pick up. Julie covered his hands with hers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” Julie said, “we can get him help now, right? You’re half human now so maybe dad can take Reg to a doctor and get some sort of medication.” Hope filled Alex’s eyes again,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe,” Alex said, a hint of worry still in his voice. Julie hesitated then asked,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you think we can go back inside the studio?” She nodded at the door, hoping he’d say yes. Alex nodded back,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah… I - he’s just going to be having a Bad Day.” Julie didn’t let his warning stop her from walking back into the studio. Luke had managed to get Reggie to sit up, Reggie’s head resting on his shoulder. Luke nodded at her when she walked in, but Reggie still didn’t seem to be all that… </span>
  <em>
    <span>present</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Julie raced forward and gave Reggie another hug, pulling him close to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know it hurts right now Reggie, but dad and I - we can help you. When things are good again I mean. There’s new research and doctors who can help,” Julie said, facing him. By some miracle Reggie managed to give her a small watery smile. Reggie silently patted the couch cushion next to her and Julie didn’t need any other invitation. She dived forward, sitting next to Reggie and wrapping her arms around him. Her brother wasn’t going to be okay anytime soon, but she was going to make damn sure he was going to get the help he needed.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yell at me on Tumblr: @Random-Nerd-3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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